Tolent’s administrators have said the collapsed company will be unable to pay most of its debts, leaving former staff £584,000 out of pocket.
Interpath, the company appointed to oversee the administration of the Tolent group companies, also said it was also unlikely that HM Revenue & Customs would recover the £1.3m owed to it and that dozens of other creditors would not receive nothing.
The only creditor likely to receive a payment is asset-backed lender IGF, which is owed £4.7m.
£625,000 has already been returned to IGF through the sale of two of Tolent’s long leasehold properties, Cleveland House and Kildale House in Stockton.
The properties were bought by Brims, who also took over the firm’s industrial business. Tolent’s former headquarters, Ravensworth House, is still on the market.
Interpath wrote that IGF’s debt is likely to be paid in full.
The administrator said it had so far collected £749,000 of book debts.
Tolent employed about 356 people when it went into administration in February. Eighty-six employees were initially retained to help liquidate the company, but they have also since been laid off.
The Gateshead-based contractor racked up significant losses on a mixed-use development in Durham. Tolent founder John Wood called the company’s demise “tragic” in an interview with Construction news.
